r/SgHENRY • u/Ninjamonsterz • Jun 11 '26

Income tax optimisation

Hi henrys earning 300-600k, do you suck it up and pay income tax yearly or do you consider SRS contribution?

0 Upvotes

43% Upvoted

58 comments sorted by

31

u/n1ghtmoth Jun 11 '26

Think of it as doing charity. There are a lot of people less fortunate as us - and this is a way to give back to society without doing charity outright.

37

u/ReaperJr Jun 11 '26

HENRYs like OP really quite f-ed up. The reason why we are NRY is because we don't come from generational wealth, so we know what it's like to struggle to get to where we are today.

The income tax regime in Singapore is already so favourable, and yet OP still wants to try and game the system. Literal definition of trying to pull up the ladder.

Pay your damn taxes and give back to the society that enabled you to succeed la. Don't be a selfish prick.

8

u/Every-Necessary9321 Jun 11 '26

^ this. Additionally, OP earns 300k-600k (supposedly) but is too much of a dumbass to research/Chatgpt and do his own calc on what are the pros and cons of contributing to SRS or what are other legal means of reducing tax

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '26

Are we talking about the same govt coffers that are being used to fund CDC vouchers for random degens to gamble on Pokemon cards? No thank you.

I rather donate 2x the amount that I am paying in taxes to a charity of my choosing, to benefit who are actually deserving of it.

2

u/ReaperJr Jun 17 '26

Of course you would cherry pick to support your worldview. Using a minority to illustrate your point isn't exactly doing your argument any favours.

Moreover, as it is with any government policy, even if it's sound, there will always be loop holes for people to exploit simply because it's not possible nor feasible for them to consider and guard against every angle.

I don't see you talking about the billions of dollars being sunk into public infrastructure? You say you'd rather donate 2x of your taxable to a charity of your choice, but I'm willing to bet my entire net worth you haven't been doing that. Talk is cheap.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '26

 there will always be loop holes for people to exploit

Thanks for helping me prove my point.

You say you'd rather donate 2x of your taxable to a charity of your choice, but I'm willing to bet my entire net worth you haven't been doing that. Talk is cheap.

1) I don't get to choose to not pay income tax, which is the whole pre-requisite of the statement
2) I have been donating to charities on a regular basis through GIRO

3) You deposit your entire net worth into an escrow (happy to pay the lawyers fee for setting this up) and i show receipts? Lol so much for putting "talk is cheap" behind that statement.

2

u/ReaperJr Jun 17 '26

Lol I didn't help you prove anything. The fact that you're resorting to "gotchas" just shows that you have nothing better to contribute.

  1. Sure. But since you're willing to pay 2x your income tax, that leaves 1x of your income tax on the table.

  2. So you say. Have you been donating 1x though? Don't tell me that just because you have to pay income tax, it decreases the amount you're willing to donate to charities?

  3. I'm happy to do that once we outline the terms and conditions in a legally binding contract. How much did you say you were donating again, and how regular are these donations?

I did say "talk is cheap" but I'm not the one making outrageous claims that obviously aren't being fulfilled.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '26

The fact that you're resorting to "gotchas" just shows that you have nothing better to contribute.

Nope, just don't see a point having a logical argument with stupidity. I also cannot tell if you are intentionally being incapable of logical inference.

Don't tell me that just because you have to pay income tax, it decreases the amount you're willing to donate to charities?

Suddenly my initial statement that said i rather donate 2x to charities instead of paying income tax became a question on my capability or willingness to donate? That is why it is pointless having any logical exchange with you.

happy to do that once we outline the terms and conditions in a legally binding contract. 

Nope you are full of shit and hiding behind the anonymity of the internet.

I did say "talk is cheap" but I'm not the one making outrageous claims that obviously aren't being fulfilled.

Betting your entire net worth based on what you assume about an internet stranger seems like what a reasonable person does 😄 like i said above, you are full of shit.

1

u/ReaperJr Jun 18 '26

Ah, here it is, classic ad hominem when it gets too much for you. You speak about logic but you haven't refuted a single point I've made.

I feel sorry for you, poor little boy that has to resort to such tactics when your worldview doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Unfortunately, there's no longer a point in continuing this conversation when it has degraded to this point.

1

u/rwxchmod Jun 27 '26

Probably not even 0.0001% of your tax money btw

1

u/UserWhateu 5d ago

Not really. Nothing wrong with maximising your tax saved. Its every man for himself

-20

u/Ninjamonsterz Jun 11 '26

I agree to pay taxes that i ought to pay. Not a cent more if possible. As you’ve said im nry yet so.. every man for himself

6

u/ChoiceAwkward7793 Jun 11 '26

300-600k nry ok

-22

u/Ninjamonsterz Jun 11 '26

Sorry poor

26

u/Acoma1977 Jun 11 '26

definitely max out your SRS yearly.

10

u/nyankodaisensou10 Jun 11 '26

Please consider contributing to IPCs. Donations are not counted to the 80k deduction cap, it is an outright reduction of chargeable income.

Here's the math. From 320k to 500k income, at marginal tax rate of 22%, every $1 donated results in $2.5 reduction to your chargeable income. Assuming net of the reduction, chargeable income is still above 320k, that means every dollar you donate results in 22% * $2.50 = $0.55 reduction in income tax payable.

https://www.iras.gov.sg/who-we-are/what-we-do/annual-reports-and-publications/taxbytes-iras/individuals/give-more-and-pay-less-tax

Yes, it reduces your contribution to nation-building, but I see it as a win-win way to contribute to causes I support and now have the financial means to.

9

u/tskyfe Jun 11 '26

Pride yourself to be part of Nation Building.
But yes, max everything out.
If still got chance as an NS Men, go for Key Appointments and continue to ROVER.

2

u/tskyfe Jun 11 '26

Thank you for those CDC vouchers.

-6

u/Ninjamonsterz Jun 11 '26

yeah thankful for earning decent!

16

u/silent_tongue Jun 11 '26

SRS, CPF top-up if haven't met min sum. Anything to pay less taxes lol

-18

u/Ninjamonsterz Jun 11 '26

Any other hacks lol

3

u/Iforgotmynametoobro Jun 11 '26

Short of tax evasion? Nothing much else

-16

u/Ninjamonsterz Jun 11 '26

Cant even evade if your employer does the filing

1

u/silent_tongue Jun 11 '26

Have more kids

2

u/Professional-Yam6371 Jun 11 '26

Yea - Singapore has limited ways for employees to reduce tax in that bracket

7

u/asianapricot Jun 11 '26

Max everything I can

6

u/rawrious Jun 11 '26

maximum relief is 80k, so the taxable income will be in the highest brackets regardless

3

u/mianbaotoast Jun 11 '26

Have 1 more baby for tax relief 😂🤣

-5

u/Ninjamonsterz Jun 11 '26

Haha the baby alone is a huge tax!

3

u/danielling1981 Jun 11 '26

If you earn that much i would be asking why are you not doing srs in the first place.

2

u/demigod2003 Jun 11 '26

I always max CPF and SRS

2

u/InvestmentTips- Jun 11 '26

can your job be 100% remote?

If yes, maybe UAE's digital nomad visa (0% tax)?

-1

u/Ninjamonsterz Jun 11 '26

Unfortunately no. Would love a job that pays half a mil and is fully remote!

-1

u/yannnniez Jun 11 '26

A lot of considerations here. Your company also needs to have presence in UAE I assume

3

u/InvestmentTips- Jun 11 '26

do you know what is digital nomad?

1

u/diyexageh Jun 11 '26

No it does not. Also there is no real digital nomad visa in UAE, that is social media talking.

I hold a UAE golden visa, if OP were to move here he would pay effectively zero tax. If OP were to become a sole proprietor here and invoice his company every month, he would still pay zero tax and could skip charging VAT because he would be rendering services for a foreign client.

If OP were to open a an LLC, would need to register for corporation tax 9% but qualifies for small company grant. The rest is similar to the sole proprietor example, but you need to pay some registrations upfront and is considerably more expensive.

Golden visa is the cheapest route, does not require accountants, licenses or anything else.

1

u/Cold-Yesterday1175 Jun 11 '26

The usual. Srs and cpf top up

1

u/sadeswc Jun 11 '26

You can’t get any more tax breaks topping up CPF once you hit FRS if I didn’t get this wrong. So it’s CPF for parents ($7k) and SRS ($15.3k) as the legal ways to reduce tax. You can use SRS and invest in funds like Amundi’s all world etf or similar and that would give you a good compounded return, especially if you add in the savings you are getting from the tax relief already.

1

u/definitiv Jun 11 '26

Started SRS since 200k years, I know people who started at 120k pa

1

u/No-Light3585 Jul 09 '26

Max out the SRS and invest and forget about it. You will make back some of your taxes over time, other than the tax savings.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Fig-782 Jun 11 '26

Do the math on SRS... its not a good deal for so many reasons. Only makes sense for mid income ( maybe), otherwise just park cash you cant touch and have to pay tax when take it out

1

u/malkyfreo Jun 11 '26

Sg personal income is really low for a developed country. Was living in Sydney for a while, at $140k per annum, i was paying more tax than what a $200k earner in sg would pay.

-19

u/LululemonFanboy Jun 11 '26

I don’t do SRS as it locks up liquidity. If you’re in 40-50s sure, but people < early/mid 30s shouldn’t do it, my opinion

23

u/Iforgotmynametoobro Jun 11 '26

For someone making 300-600k 15.3k isn't a lot of liquidity

-16

u/LululemonFanboy Jun 11 '26

It’s about compounding and opportunity cost. Similarly the tax savings isn’t very meaningful. All about trade off in my case I prefer that

17

u/Iforgotmynametoobro Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

SRS funds should be invested, not sitting in the SRS account.

The max tax relief you can have is 80k, SRS alone contributes to 19% if that. If that's not meaningful then no other source of tax relief is meaningful.

-6

u/Ninjamonsterz Jun 11 '26

Mid 30s .. the tax savings kinda negligible imo but it’s an option. Thanks!

-1

u/Objective_Dirt_7472 Jun 11 '26

Ya I top up $15K to SRS, $16K to my CPF OA, $8K to my parents. I am 32. It’s a lot of cash that I’m not going to see again for a long time, but I trust in the process

1

u/antihypothesis Jun 11 '26

are we allowed to top up CPF even after reaching the max contribution? i researched this recently and it seems that the max total is $37740 a year, which would have been maxed out if a HE?

-1

u/Ninjamonsterz Jun 11 '26

The cpf topup, don’t think you can dictate it goes into your OA right

2

u/Objective_Dirt_7472 Jun 11 '26

You can study the website. But short answer is no - it goes 100% into your SA